Karnataka records 67.28 percent voting

Bangalore: Karnataka recorded 67.28 per cent polling in the April 17 single-phase Lok Sabha polls for 28 seats - the third highest turnout in the state for parliamentary elections.

While the highest turnout was recorded in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections with 67.58 per cent of voters exercising their franchise, the second highest was in 1989 polls when the polling percentage was 67.53.

In the last Lok Sabha elections in 2009, the voting percentage was 58.81. The then ruling party BJP had won 19 seats, Congress six and JD-S three.

The final voting percentage for Thursday`s poll was released by the office of Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer today. Karnataka has a total electorate of 4.62 crore.

Polling in the three constituencies of Bangalore - South, Central and North - recorded turnout of 55.69, 55.70 and 56.47 per cent respectively.
The fate of 435 candidates was decided yesterday with BJP and Congress both expecting about 20 seats in bitterly contested polls.